Brawn confident of Ferrari win at Silverstone

Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn is looking forward to seeing the Italian flag fly over Silverstone come the end of Sunday’s British Grand Prix.

Brawn has helped mastermind a stunning run for world champion Michael Schumacher, who has held the title since 2000 and won nine out of 10 races this season.

Now he has his eyes on a 10th win of the season for Schumi, with Renault’s Jarno Trulli the only man so far to beat Schumacher.

“It has for me been very pleasurable in recent years going to Silverstone and trying to beat the English teams on their own ground,” said Brawn, himself born in Manchester.

“It adds a little extra for me. Maybe not for the rest of our company but being the Englishman it gives it a little bit extra spice to go to Silverstone and try to win it.”

Brawn has pinpointed strategy as the key to another Schumacher triumph.

The Englishman’s clever switch of strategy in France last Sunday enabled Schumacher to benefit from a clear track and beat Renault’s Fernando Alonso to the win.

Ferrari’s Bridgestone tyres tend to work better over long distances than the Michelins on their rivals, which is a handicap in qualifying.

Brawn expects a similar situation at Silverstone and hopes his strategy can overcome the qualifying disadvantage.

“We have been testing there and the car has been very good,” he said.

“Again the tyres that we will be taking have been excellent on race performance but we can see the Michelins have the first lap performance.

“Again we will be facing a challenge of running a race where we can use our performance.”